


Beneath the Lights

by felishiqq



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: 10-20 years into the future, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background and Cameo Characters, Character Death, Childhood Trauma, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mentions of Canon Universe, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Physical Abuse, Romance, Roxas and Ventus Are Twins (Kingdom Hearts), Slightly Good Xehanort and Bad Eraqus, Stars, Trauma, expect the unexpected
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:14:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26617291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felishiqq/pseuds/felishiqq
Summary: Everything ended because of the stars, but Ventus believes that those twinkling lights will lead him back to Vanitas.
Relationships: Vanitas & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Vanitas/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is the first official VanVen fic that I will take seriously. More tags will be added and just as a heads up, please prepare yourself because you're about to hop in a very weird ride! Thanks for choosing this fic and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Edited by waywardriot!

  
  
  


_ ————————————— _

Vanitas wants to hate them.

Those stupid, glimmering lights that shine so brightly across the dark night sky.

It feels odd to hate on such beautiful, ethereal-like celestial beings. Many people just need to look upwards for the stars to bring a smile to their faces—may it be just an innocent appreciation for them, or a feeling that makes someone want to believe in something and do more.

Heck, those astrophiles exist for a reason. The world even has jobs specifically for them, for fuck’s sake.

Vanitas thinks they’re just people who ponder too much. People who think and reach too far out of this world.

Truth be told, he’s tried to adore the stars like the others, but what’s the point?

People just love to figure out stuff, don’t they?

Now those dreams have been taken away by those who were able to snatch them first.

Of course, people aren’t infallible, so one can’t reach far without mistakes. That said, time passes as the world grows too quickly.

All there is yet to be discovered has already been figured out.

‘Whatever I find doesn’t matter, because no one needs to wonder anymore.’

Everything has been flipped upside down for Vanitas ever since that day, as if the stars all came falling and cut him deep with their five-pointed shards.

_ ————————————— _

_ September 5, 2029 _

_ “Hey! Are you gonna watch?!” _

_ “Watch what?” _

_ A young kid with a mop of untidy black hair came running towards his friend, who lived two houses down to the right. It was just a typical day, just as it had always been ever since they met. The two were good friends, but that was to be expected since their grandparents were really good pals, too.  _

_ After running with his short legs given no rest, Vanitas stopped in front of the blonde and gestured for his friend to wait and let him catch a few breaths, before he yelled with excitement, “Stop pretending you don’t know! I mean the Gummi Ship’s liftoff! It’s been ages ever since the last Space Shuttle mission!” _

_ At the time, he was six years old, around the age where innocence still lingered in his tiny little soul, and that innocence was the same for his younger friend. _

_ Vanitas’ friend looked up from his sandbox and rolled his eyes as he responded with a chuckle, “Yeah, but stop saying it like we were even alive for the last mission!” He flicked the older kid’s forehead playfully, which made Vanitas shriek and stick out his tongue.  _

_ “Besides, I already know because you don’t shut up about it. The launch isn’t even for a long time, but I’ll watch it, Vanitas.” _

_ That made Vanitas smile, knowing that his best friend would be watching with him. His grateful smile turned into a mischievous grin as he got his payback by pushing one of the twins into the sand box—which, of course, caught the blonde off guard, but he still laughed back as he chased Vanitas across the street, exclaiming, “Get back here, you bully! I’m telling Mr. Xehanort about this!” _

_ It was fun even if it was just a few tiring minutes of running, but not all fun times could last. Eventually, his friend found other kids to play with, though both still attempted to reach out no matter how busy they were. _

_ Vanitas noticed this, but he just watched his best friend leave his side. Sure, they occasionally spoke and tried to hang out, but the blonde kept getting pulled away by his other friends. But even while this was happening, someone else was secretly watching from afar. _

_ He still wanted to believe that their friendship would stay strong, but even at an innocent young age, he started to doubt himself a little bit. He was reassured a few times, but he just couldn’t help feeling so... lonely. _

_ That is, until someone came by three weeks before the Space Shuttle mission happened. _

_ “Oh! You’re back...?” _

_ “Uhm... Actually...” _

  
  


_ —————— _

  
  


_ October 7, 2029 _

  
  


**_Four..._ **

**_Three..._ **

**_Two..._ **

**_One..._ **

_ “And liftoff!” _

_ Cheers were heard upon the sight of the Gummi Ship rocketing through the sky at high speeds. Even though it was the 149th Space Shuttle mission, people from all over the world were still watching with excitement. Many watched the ship ascend through the television, while some watched near the actual liftoff area—but of course, at a safe distance to keep them safe from the ship’s flames. _

_ Xehanort and Vanitas couldn’t be at the actual location since Xehanort himself had work to do and was always busy. He decided that day would be an exception, though, because it was an important day for someone special to him.  _

_ Actually, every day was an important day for Xehanort, who was a doctor and probably should’ve been somewhere besides the couch, sitting beside his grandson to watch the launch, but he took the day off for it anyway. It would be more important than his usual life-saving procedures. _

_ Even Vanitas himself was waiting in anticipation and cheered loudly when the Gummi Ship finally took off. _

__

_ But it wasn’t just the ship that ascended that day. _

  
  


_ Souls did as well. _

  
  


**_BOOM!_ **

  
  


_ “It happened nearly two minutes into flight—” _

_ Screams and gasps of horror blended in with the sound of the explosion on the recorded footage that was now being broadcasted as breaking news. It had only occurred ten minutes ago, yet the gossip about the tragedy shown on live TV was spreading quickly since many individuals had witnessed the accident. _

_ All Vanitas could do was look back and forth between the television playing the worrisome news and his speechless grandfather. The six-year-old didn’t know what was going on, but he knew very well that he was afraid. _

_ He wasn’t alone in his fear, considering that several people watched the mission fail as the Gummi Ship exploded mid-flight, seemingly because of a technical error. It had been so many years, yet technology could still fail so easily... _

  
  


_ And now, it was too late. _

  
  


_ Xehanort and Vanitas were both deeply affected by this incident. Was there something that they lost?  _

_ Indeed—they were dreams. _

_ “Grandpa...?” Vanitas said quietly as his gaze made its way to his grandfather, who had been tightly clenching his fists ever since the explosion.  _

_ Xehanort didn’t even want to speak; all he wanted was to be alone. His disgusted expression was facing away from his grandson, but he still tried. “What is it, Vanitas?” _

_ Hesitation rose up in Vanitas’ chest, and it started to hurt. He didn’t quite understand what had happened, but he knew it was something bad. _

_ “Can I... still follow my dream?” _

_ Xehanort paused for a few seconds. He turned towards Vanitas quickly, but his anger slowly subsided once he saw Vanitas’s face. The frustration was still there, and it was so difficult to bottle up. A grunt escaped Xehanort’s lips as he placed both wrinkly hands on Vanitas’ shoulders harshly and replied; _

_ “Are you fucking dumb, kid?! Didn’t you see what happened to—” _

_ He cried. Vanitas had built up the courage to ask, but he immediately regretted it. Tears fell from the corners of his gold eyes, and Xehanort only let out a long sigh and whispered begrudgingly, “I’m sorry, little one. I don’t think you should follow that dream anymore.” _

_ —————— _

_ “No...! Vanitas, please don’t leave!” the blonde yelled as he tried to chase his friend who was about to move away. _

_ Far from the place that Xehanort once thought was safe for his family. _

_ He just... couldn’t trust one person who lived so close to them anymore—not after the accident that was partially caused by someone he trusted. _

_ Vanitas couldn't think of anything to say in such a short amount of time. The vehicle he was in was about to drive off, and the only thing he could shout was: _

**_“I’ll come back! I’ll search for you!”_ **

_ That day had made connections fall apart, and a dream was thrown away. _

_ But it wouldn’t be in vain, as someone else picked it up for him. _

_ ————————————— _

It happened almost twelve years ago.

Up until now, Vanitas hasn’t stopped searching for the people who were special to him. He’s been looking for one specific person, though, and he’s on his way to start the journey again, as he and Xehanort had finally moved back to the same neighborhood they used to live in.

It’s already a rough start, though. Vanitas wakes up two hours late for his advanced study session at the local library. He rushes to get ready because he doesn’t want to get teased by his grandfather later if he ends up not being able to borrow some books for his upcoming quiz in his college homeschool program. 

“Shit—fuck!” he yelps out when he nearly trips on his shoelaces as he runs down the stairs. He thankfully saves himself in time, because it would be so fucking lame to accidentally end his life over some shoes and a long flight of stairs—he’d rather say he got hit by a car or something, which would sound less ridiculous.

He quickly pulls out his phone as he slings his backpack inelegantly behind him, calling his grandfather before he leaves their home, as their usual routine on weekdays. The moment the call is picked up, Xehanort knows what to say.

“I know. Save your breath for running because I know you’re late.”

Vanitas laughs at this, his phone wedged beneath his cheek and his shoulder while he tries to get his other shoe on. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. You forgot to buy us food like you promised.”

“You’ll live, kid. Your hunger is nothing compared to this damn teen in the ER who got run over by a bus and catapulted onto a pile of shredded trees.”

Well, that’s  _ one  _ way to make Vanitas forget his hunger and lose his appetite. 

The call ends after a few seconds, though, and Vanitas starts sprinting to the library. He’s going to hate the sweat on his clothes once he enters the air-conditioned building.

Upon arrival, he sighs in relief and exhaustion from continuous running. At least he manages to get the books for his quiz, though he has to glare at a random kid around his age to get one of the ones he needs to borrow.

Once he finishes grabbing all the books on his list, he thinks about whether he should study at home or here instead. He looks around while in the line to check his things out, spotting an empty seat near the library’s café area. After the books are stamped, he makes his way to the chair he’s had his eyes planted on. Tired from all the running it took just to get the damn books, he decides he’s going to treat himself to some coffee and a few snacks once he sits down.

Well, the thought is interrupted as he passes by another aisle of astronomy books on his way to the connected café and sees a familiar book that catches his eye.

_ ‘The Little Prince, huh... Why is it in this section?’  _ Vanitas ponders in silence as he stares at the novel in front of him. This was his mother’s favourite book, so he instinctively reaches for it.

But when another hand bumps into his, Vanitas turns to his left.

Now, there are  _ two _ familiar things right in front of his eyes. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Managed to post another chapter before exams start. Thank you so much for the 9 kudos! I'm so happy that there are people who read this! 
> 
> The third chapter might take a while, and I'm sorry I couldn't make this chapter longer than the last one. I hope this is alright! ^^;
> 
> Edited by waywardriot!

_ ————————————— _

**_“I’ll come back! I’ll search for you!”_ **

_ On the day that Vanitas had to depart from the place of precious memories, Ventus didn’t move from his position as he watched the person so close to his heart slip away in an instant. _

_ It was ephemeral—like a shooting star that just happened to pass in a blink of an eye. _

_ Everything was just too sudden and too much for him to take. He wished that they had met sooner, because there was so much more for them to explore together, and yet... time was already up.  _

_ Ventus hoped and held onto the words that Vanitas said back then, twelve years ago. _

_ He promised himself to never forget the day they met beneath the starry sky. _

_ “Then.. what’s your name?” _

_ “I-I’m Ventus! But you can call me Ven...”  _

_ Ven. _

  
  


_ Ven... _

  
  


**“VEN!”**

Ventus lets out a high-pitched shriek as he falls off his bed when a pillow, which is disgustingly smothered with drool, is harshly thrown into his face. With his vision still slightly blurry from just being woken up by force, he tries to focus his eyesight and fails when he gets dragged out of bed by his foot without warning.

Not only was Ventus pulled away swiftly from his dreams and brought to reality, but now he’s been yanked out of bed by someone who shares the same face as him, looking down at him on the floor with a twitching eye and a frown to complete his irritated expression.

“Roxas, what the actual hell? You could’ve just poked my arm instead or something! Are you trying to break my bones, dumbass?!” 

“What the hell me? What the hell  _ you! _ A thousand pokes would’ve never woken you up and you know that yourself!” Roxas barks at his twin, who is still sprawled on the floor, looking as if he’s about to close his eyes again. With a sigh, Roxas walks towards, seeming to have calmed down, only to massacre him the next second with numerous hits on the head using another pillow. “Wake up, you  _ damn _ sloth! You kept me up all night nagging about getting you that ‘ _ Little Wince’  _ book from the library and you think I’ll let you sleep?!” he yelled.

“It’s called ‘ _The Little_ _Prin—HHACGK—”_

More screams escape Ventus, telling Roxas to stop hitting him or else they’ll be more late than they are right now. Roxas complies, but not without giving his brother another hit on the head before leaving their shared bedroom to have his breakfast, which he didn’t want left cold after trying to wake up his twin for several minutes. Ventus tells him that he’ll be ready in five minutes, but Roxas already knows very well that it’s  _ not _ gonna happen.

Unsurprisingly enough, it takes nineteen minutes.

“ _ Ven!  _ We’re—ugh. You know what? I’m leaving!”

“No, wait! I’m already—COME BACK HERE!” Ventus exclaims loudly as he jumps on one foot while he tries to pull on his shoe on his way out the door. He makes it out and manages to reach his brother eventually, but he only gets another glare from a pissed-off Roxas, who continues reprimanding Ventus for being so irresponsible when it comes to school matters.

“Nineteen minutes is a new record. That’s how long it took you to leave mom’s womb!”

“Rox, being late now isn’t related to me being born after you.”

“Pfft, I know. Just saying that it was just a coincidence. I just wanted to annoy my  _ little br _ —”

“Shut  _ up! _ ” Ventus scoffs while he attempts to kick his twin’s ass with his foot, only to fail and nearly lose balance, almost falling over some stray cat on the sidewalk. The shoe even slips off from his foot and flies into the air, making him realize that he wore the wrong shoe.

“Ah! I accidentally wore Grandpa’s shoe! I have to go back!”

Roxas snaps his head towards his brother’s direction, his face not showing a single hint of incoming laughter or a smile. He groans with irritation again and shouts, “Are you serious?!”

“Can’t you do me a favor and return this yourself to get me my left shoe? You know Grandpa Eraqus tolerates you more! If I go back there and he sees me wearing this, he’s gonna kill me!”

“I'm also in the mood for killing you, actually. So if you don’t get your  _ fucking  _ shoes right now, I might as well kill you before he does!”

Ventus screams and sprints back to their house, not planning on dealing with an infuriated Roxas when his anger is real.

At least he returns the shoe and puts on the right one before his grandfather finds out. When Ventus comes back outside, he knows that Roxas didn’t wait up and just went on without him.

The sun’s heat definitely isn’t helping on their way to the library. Wearing a new sweater with the pattern of the Taurus constellation on it, he quickly started to sweat as he caught up with Roxas.

Taurus used to be Vanitas’ favourite constellation, but Ventus never knew why.

Speaking of Vanitas, he walks a few more steps before looking at the house on his right, which was Vanitas’ old house back when they were still little kids. They used to be close neighbors and their grandfathers were to be blamed for connecting them, only for the two old friends to separate them by moving away when things were starting to get better for Ventus. Now that more than a decade has passed, many things have changed since someone else owns the home that once belonged to his one and only friend. Ventus feels stupid for having a glimmer of hope, thinking that maybe Vanitas is still here...

The stars brought them together, right?

He always wonders if the stars could bring them together once again—

**_WHACK!_ **

“Ven! What the fuck—are you okay?!” Roxas exclaims with worry after witnessing Ventus’ face get hit by a flying frisbee that came flying out of nowhere. Ventus lets out a pained groan, and once he looks up he sees his brother shudder in disgust. It isn’t anything  _ too _ bad, but apparently Ventus will have to go to the library with two new things on him: his sweater and a noticeable but newfound bruise that’s starting to discolor one of his usually rosy cheeks.

Leave it to Ventus to always have something extra once he gets something for himself, and it’s not always something lucky.

Ventus hisses in pain after pressing a bit too hard on his face, and snarls at his twin for overreacting about his bruise. “Stop looking at me like that. You looked even uglier that time you fell off your skateboard and got a—”

“Continue that sentence and I’m not buying you any Sea Salt ice cream before we go home.”

“No loss for me! I don’t even like that flavor.”

“Fine, then I won’t get you that Double Crunch ice cream.”

“I take it back!” Ventus gasps, immediately holding onto Roxas’ shirt tightly while pleading to still pay for their ice cream, which only makes Roxas laugh and ruffle Ventus’ already messy hair. 

Shortly after, a girl comes running towards the two blondes with a panicked look on her face. She’s around the same age as the twins and is pretty much one of Roxas’ friends, shown by the way that he’s the first person she calls out to before she stops in front of them to retrieve the lost frisbee that her friend threw a bit too far.

“Roxas! Boy, am I so glad to see you! Thank goodness Lea’s frisbee didn’t get stuck in some tree or hit anyone in the—”

Ventus pops out from behind Roxas by slightly tilting his body towards the girl, showing his obviously hurt cheek.

“...Oh.” She realizes that she shouldn’t have spoken too soon. 

Roxas laughs at the scene playing in front of him and hands the frisbee over to his friend, saying, “Well, at least you can tell us apart more easily. Ven’s the one with the nasty mark.” 

That earns Roxas a hard hit on his arm, which makes him hiss in pain while Ventus half-whispers to his twin, “ _ Stop it! _ ” 

After a few seconds, the short sibling fight ends and Ventus reassures Roxas’ friend that it’s fine. Still, she keeps apologizing, since she witnessed how hard Lea threw the frisbee first hand and has realized the consequences of that. Ventus smiles at her to reduce the tension of the atmosphere and says, “Seriously, Xion, I’m alright!” 

As he checks his wristwatch, Roxas’ eyes suddenly widen like they’re about to pop out, and he exclaims, “ _ Actually,  _ we aren’t, Ven! We’re already late for our study session! We gotta go!” He quickly pulls Ventus by the back of his sweater and runs off with him, waving Xion goodbye before running off into the distance. Ventus yelps from the sudden movement but manages to get on his feet after grabbing Roxas’ arm, asking, “Why are we always in a hurry?! We’re homeschooled, Rox!”

“First, if we’re late, then we’ll run out of books to bring home. Second, the ice cream’s on sale in the library café!”

“Oh,  _ crap!  _ We gotta be quick!”

“Then let go of my arm, Ventus!”

—————————————

Well, he still needed something cold to heal that  _ stupid _ bruise.

They ask for a free ice bag along with their ice creams, but it’s plain embarrassing to sit in the library café while Ventus tries to eat ice cream and ice his bruised cheek at the same time. Hopefully the people staring just think that he’s some sort of ice wizard since the room is already air conditioned. More strangers look at the twins’ table when Roxas shamelessly exclaims that he got the winning stick, running back towards the ice scream stand to get his free treat.

Well, people must be starting to think that there are  _ two _ ice freaks in this building.

Once Roxas finally sits at a study desk with another Sea Salt ice cream in his hand, Ventus shoots him an expectant look. Roxas tries to understand what he wants, but all he returns is a confused expression with a raised eyebrow.

“What do you want?”   
  


“The Little Prince.”

“Yeah, so?”

Ventus frowns while crossing his arms. “You promised!”

Sighing in defeat and not wanting to argue in a crowded area, Roxas stands up and finishes his popsicle in two bites before throwing the stick into a garbage bin with accuracy. He walks through the tall shelves that tower around him and then enters one of the aisles that leads to the Astronomy section. Roxas starts scanning every book that he sees, trying to find the novella that Ventus wants as quickly as possible. Fortunately for him, it doesn’t take too long to find the book, and he goes to take it off the shelf, when his hand bumps into someone else’s.

He readies his apologies to the person he bumped hands with, but no words can escape him as soon as their eyes meet. 

“Hey…” 

“By any chance, is your name..” the other person mumbles, his question slowly trailing off into silence.

Those shining golden eyes are too familiar to forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh! I hope you guys like this! Vanitas and Ventus will be meeting very soon~
> 
> Leaving a kudos or a comment would make me very happy! Thanks for reading! I hope you liked this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took so long! School has been making me busy but I managed to pull this one right out of my head so I can slap it here xD
> 
> We might get to see a little cameo of Eraqus here! That said, please do make sure you've read the tags, because he's not going to be nice old man that we all know. (ଵ˛̼ଵ ;)
> 
> If its my books we're talking about, you really have to make sure you read the tags. (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) ╭
> 
> Once again please forgive me for I am not an extremely good writer but I still hope you enjoy the story.
> 
> Edited by waywardriot!

  
  


Eyes as blue as the sea meet irises that are gold and bright like the shining sun. The two boys stare at each other for a long time, examining one another as if they’re trying to process who’s in front of them, and they both take it all in as memories come flooding in like numerous meteors passing by before they can even blink their eyes. The world seems to slow down as their minds absorb all the possible connections that they could have with each other. Vanitas only glances at the surname neatly embroidered in Roxas’ custom made shirt...

And it clicks.

“Vanitas?”

“Rexus..?”

_ Almost. _

They both exclaim the names in unison, making them both stagger backwards with their jaws wide open from the half-expected answers that came out of their mouths.

Roxas sighs. “Ah, I might have gotten the wrong person.”

“No, wait! I’m  _ sure _ I know you! I know that last name, you’re a twin!”

“Oh... I got your name right, at least?”

“Yep. Same old Vanitas.”

“Well, you still mixed up our names.”

“Hmm. Ven...? Wait, Roxas!?”

”Finally,  _ that _ sounds more like a name!”

_ “Shh!”  _ the librarian says with a frown as she puts her index finger in front of her lips.

No, no, no—there’s absolutely  _ no _ way that the person standing before them is the same person they met as a kid, since they look way too different compared to the last time they met. Obviously, more than a decade of growing up would lead to some physical changes, but the alterations are just quite overwhelming...

Despite the air conditioned room, small beads of sweat still run down Roxas’ forehead as he tries to turn away to compel himself not to just stare rudely and zone out. Fortunately, the cold breeze knocks him out of his trance, making him realize that he’s sweating profusely and that showing himself in a slightly untidy state isn’t a good ‘first impression’ upon reuniting with his childhood friend. Not that Roxas could’ve prepared for it, though, since he definitely wouldn’t have dashed to the library and came in all sweaty if he knew he was going to encounter Vanitas again.

If it weren’t for that little book that Ventus wanted to get, maybe they wouldn’t have crossed paths. 

“Ahem...” Roxas coughs to get them back on track, then looks over to the tiny book they both previously tried to get their hands on and takes it with slight hesitation. Vanitas raises an eyebrow at this, interrupting his friend’s thoughts with his voice. “You can take it. Besides, I just wanted to look at the cover.”

“No way! Are you sure?”

“Yeah. What made you want to read it, though? I thought you weren’t the bookworm twin.”

Roxas chuckles at this. “Nah, the person you’re talking about is my brother. Seriously, he has more than a billion books in our room. Too bad they’re all about astronomy, though. If that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t even have had to go here in the first place. I can’t believe I managed to run into you here! I swear, Ventus’ ‘astronomy magic’ must be rubbing off on me.”

A quiet laugh emanates from Vanitas’ lips before Roxas’ phone starts vibrating in his pocket. He knows that Ventus is getting impatient with how long he’s taking to find the book (out of excitement), but maybe it would be more exciting to reunite Vanitas with Ventus. A surprise is out of the question, since the last thing Roxas wants is to get kicked out of the library, because he knows too damn well that his twin brother isn’t very subtle in expressing his emotions when it comes to pretty much everything.

“Hey, is it alright if I ask Ven if he wants to see you? I don’t really want him screaming when he does.”

“He’s here?” Vanitas says as he raises a brow, crossing his arms before he speaks again. “S-Sure.”

Vanitas wants to curse himself for stuttering.

Finalizing his decision on telling Ventus first, Roxas swiftly whips his phone out of his pocket and excuses himself from Vanitas before typing away to his dear brother.

_ ————————————— _

19 Minutes: Rox! How much longer until you find the book? I wanna go home and sleep...

Roxas: Already found it, you dummy. Plus, I found you an interesting bonus right beside me.

19 Minutes: Is it one of the books from The Great Astrologist Yen Sid?! 

Roxas: No, it’s not about fucking Yen Sid! He’s an astrology nerd like you.

19 Minutes: … Also did you just change my chat name into our birth time gap again? 

Roxas: So do you want to know who it is or not? I’m bringing him over to our table.

_ 19 Minutes removed their nickname. _

Ventus: Whoever it is, I’m not showing my face because the bruise on my face is hideous.

Roxas: It’s Vanitas.

_ Ventus is typing… _

Ventus: Definitely not going to show my face.

Roxas: You’re such a loser. He’s right behind me and waiting to know if I should bring him over.

Ventus: I thought he moved out of the state with his dad years ago? You’re joking!

Roxas: Says the one who makes more jokes than I do.

Ventus: I’m going home! He can’t see me like this!

Roxas: Ventus get your ass back here!

_ Ventus is offline. _

_ ————————————— _

“Damn that kid.”

Vanitas snorts once he hears those words, turning back to his friend after scanning the nearby books sitting on the tall shelves that surround them. “Who are you calling a kid? You  _ do  _ know you guys were born only a few minutes apart, right?”

Roxas smiles and then rolls his eyes before putting his phone back in his pocket. “Few? Once I tell you our time gap, you’d also believe that he’s  _ way _ younger than I am.”

“Knowing you as a kid, you tend to overreact with shit. I presume he just took a little longer than expected to come out? I’m guessing he took around seven to ten minutes.”

“He took nineteen minutes. Almost twenty, actually.”

“Well _damn_ , he’s been late to everything since birth.” Vanitas lets out a quick laugh before continuing. “Speaking of Ventus, what did he say?”

Roxas grumbles shortly after and mutters, “He’s... busy. I can take you to our house, if you want.”

A sigh escapes from Vanitas’ throat, and he scratches at the back of his head. “Not now. Sorry, I still have some homework to finish. Maybe the next time we come here?”

Right, Roxas doesn’t know that Vanitas doesn’t live too far from here, but if his friend says that they’ll meet here then maybe that’s enough.

“At least give me your number.”

_ What could go wrong? _

“Sure.” Vanitas shrugs and hands over his phone after rummaging through his slightly messy backpack. “Here you go.”

“Ven will be so jealous.” Roxas snickers as he types his number.

Vanitas raises a brow. “Over my cool phone or over getting my number? If it’s the second option, then maybe he can get something better than that.”

Roxas almost drops Vanitas’ phone.

“Nevermind.”

“Oh, c’mon,” Vanitas says as he pokes Roxas’s forehead, making him look up from his phone. “I’m just kidding, y’know. It’s not like that.” Those words make Roxas knit his brow, and Vanitas laughs at his weird expression. “Pfft, don’t take it too seriously. You’re so overprotective.”

“You haven’t seen that dumbass for years and you’re already flirting with him through me? Not on my watch. Also, I am  _ not _ overprotective.”

“Whatever you say.”

Roxas growls and slaps his friend playfully on the back and yells, “Oh, shut up, bastard!”

**_“SHH!”_ ** the whole library shushes them.

Fortunately, Roxas is still allowed to ‘borrow’ the book Ventus asked for.

_ ————————————— _

  
  


Once Roxas parts ways with Vanitas, he knocks on the front door, ignoring the broken doorbell. 

Eraqus, their grandfather, has already forgotten to replace it despite the fact that the broken device is still part of his household. Not that he could fix it up, though, with too much already on his plate by taking care of the twins alone while their parents, who only visit once a year, are overseas. Plus, Eraqus is really a lazy old man.

“Ventus! Get the damn door or I’m throwing away your stupid tech-toy!” Eraqus yells hoarsely from inside the house, which is followed by the sound of Ventus’ loud game being paused and the running footsteps that come along right after. Roxas sighs quietly at the threat he just heard from his grandfather, making him slightly irritated while he presses his palm to his face, knowing that Eraqus—for some unknown reason—really dislikes Ventus. It makes him uncomfortable.

The sound of the front door creaking open makes Roxas look up. He sees his younger twin, Ventus, looking at him expectantly with a smile on his face, but Roxas isn’t about to hand over the book he had promised to take home, not just yet. 

Simple sibling shenanigans are a must.

“Sorry about leaving the library. I really chickened out because I didn’t want to embarrass myself... But I realized that he might not come back! Ugh, I feel so stupid!” Ventus lets out a groan while covering his face, already sulking on the spot. He quickly snaps out of it and looks back at Roxas.

“Did you get the book, Rox? You must have stayed in line just to get it, I love you so much!”

Roxas pretends that he’s nervous and acts like it. “Actually, I got so carried away with talking to Vanitas that I forgot. Sorry, Ven.” He scratches the back of his head while giving an apologetic smile to make it look more convincing.

“Eh?! Are you for real?” Ventus exclaims as a frown appears on his face. “You prioritized talking to Vanitas over fulfilling your brother’s request? I hate you so much,” he bites back, crossing his arms while looking at Roxas with disappointment.

He should stop before Ventus actually believes it.

Roxas chuckles at his brother’s reaction and hands him out the book he asked for without saying a word. Ventus happily grabs the novella after being taken aback for a split second.

“Oh my gosh! You actually borrowed it for me! Seriously, I thought you said you weren’t the joking type of brother.”

“Correction.” Roxas pauses as he takes off his shoes to change into indoor ones (since Eraqus hates a dirty household) before continuing. “I  _ bought _ it for you. Turns out the library accidentally ordered two more copies of this book when they were only supposed to get more Astronomy textbooks, so they sold one of them to me.” Hearing this makes Ventus stare at him with his mouth open wide from shock. Once Roxas is inside, he continues, “I got you the new one, by the way.”

Ventus sniffs and suddenly runs towards his brother with open arms, shouting, “YOU  _ DO _ LOVE ME!”

“Ew! Shut up, Ven! Just take it as a gift for helping me with my homework!”

“YOU KIDS SHUT THE  _ HELL _ UP BEFORE I THROW THIS ELECTRONIC BOX TOY IN YOUR FACES!” Eraqus yells loudly from across the hallway, his threatening aura already seeping out of his room even without stepping out and showing his face.

The twins both quickly shriek as they close the door and run upstairs to fix their things before leaving the house for their daily plans. ‘ _ Please don’t hit us with the Playstation,’ _ they think at the same time.

As the two blondes reach their room, they both slam the door and slump on the massive rug that sits in the middle of their room. They both look up at each other as they laugh, wide and identical smiles on their faces. A few more minutes pass before they find themselves panting for air after their laughing session. Roxas looks to his side to find Ventus close to falling asleep on the rug.

_ ‘What a sleepyhead,’  _ he thinks.

“By the way, Ven.”

“Mm?”

“You know that guy I saw you stalking on Kingstagram yesterday?”

“I do  _ not  _ stalk Vanita—”

“I got his number.”

“Oh, I  _ despise  _ you...”

Another yell from Eraqus from downstairs sends shivers down their spines.

“Ah! I forgot to turn off my game!” Ventus yells as he jumps out of his sitting position before dashing down the stairs.

He gets whacked by Eraqus’ newspaper by the time he reaches the first floor.

_ ————————————— _

Two days have passed since seeing Roxas again.

Night falls as soon as Vanitas finishes his last page of homework. Dropping his pen and looking at his study desk, he realizes how much of a mess it is—filled with pages of slightly crumpled homework along with his scattered pens—so he takes all the paper to organize it into a neat pile, counts the pages, and places all his black-inked pens into his pen holder. 

_ ‘I’m homeschooled. Why don’t they just let us fuckin’ type everything instead of writing all this bullcrap?’  _ Vanitas thinks.

He heaves out a sigh as he leans back in his chair, cracking his knuckles after writing non-stop. Vanitas may not look like the ‘top student’ type from the outside, but in reality, he’s _crazy smart_. Whenever he gets assigned with groupmates online, he always does the work and gets all of his group members high scores. All because of that, the teachers just stop him from being part of group projects. A lot of people praise him for being such an intelligent man, but really, he just doesn’t want to lose to anyone. Everything at school is just a breeze, although he also used to get told off by the teachers for being such a brat when it came to video classes (but they let him get away with it eventually, since the school really loves smart students).

People think he’s got it all: looks, body, wealth (albeit not  _ too _ rich, not like the twins), and smarts. The list is long, but there are also some important things that he’s lacking on. Vanitas doesn’t like to think about it, though.  _ It’s classified from the people he doesn't trust. _

He had also texted Roxas on the day they saw each other and earlier today, although Roxas was busy with some new other friends and schoolwork. Vanitas hasn’t received another message since Roxas mentioned leaving the house today, either, so now he’s all alone as usual.

Vanitas kicks off the chair and sends it moving backwards with ease, thanks to the tiny wheels underneath it. He stops once he’s gone far enough to see the small digital clock sitting on his nightstand, which reads 9:27pm with its blinking red lights. Sliding his chair towards the nearby window, he looks out and observes what he sees. Except that, there isn’t really anything much to see—just a few stray cats hissing at each other down the street before disappearing—up to the point where Vanitas expects a tumbleweed to roll around the empty road. 

Boredom hits him almost instantaneously, so he gets up from his chair then takes his jacket and phone before he goes out of his room, down the stairs, and out the door.

Late night walks aren’t really Vanitas’ favourite thing, because he keeps complaining about how much it hurts his feet whenever there isn’t an exact place to go to. Tonight is one of the nights where he actually  _ plans  _ to go somewhere, though, and that’s Daybreak Plaza, which is found on a street of the same name. He’s hungry and his working grandfather isn’t home yet, so he might as well grab something to eat before heading back home to play video games.

All he has to do is pass by the tiny park where people usually go to stargaze.

That place has been empty lately, since apparently there are  _ other  _ new interesting things that people enjoy, other than just staring at the sky peppered with twinkling lights. 

The almost abandoned park, with a telescope sitting near the metal rails that serve as a border between a cliff and the ocean, with a beautifully designed bench that sits in the middle of the venue, with the curved bushes that bloom pretty flowers surrounding it in a big circle… It’s supposed to be empty like usual.

So why?

Why is someone familiar standing there, watching the stars there tonight?

Curiosity gets the best of Vanitas, and he walks towards the place while more memories suddenly start coming back to him as he takes every step closer.

After his final step, he looks over to the person fixing the telescope, who’s now kneeling in the grass. The stranger looks too focused to budge or look away, still concentrated on setting up his unstable telescope stand.

A shooting star falls through the sky.

“Roxas?”

“ _ EEK—” _

**_WHACK!_ **

The collapsed stand made the heavy telescope fall on top of the blonde’s head, making him fall butt-first on the ground.

“Oh shit! Are you alright?!”

Ventus slowly turns his head while rubbing it, looking at those gold eyes as if he’s in a daze. His vision is spinning, but he can somehow recognize the face even through the small wave of dizziness. Still, he doesn’t comment on it. He blinks and slowly stutters, “Don’t worry... I-I’m okay...”

His blue eyes rolling backwards, Ventus falls into the grass with a soft thud, his eyes fluttering closed right after.

Vanitas panics, hoping that Ventus didn’t get a concussion because of him.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a great 'first' impression.. (;๏д๏)
> 
> Did Ventus get a concussion? Weird question, but I guess we'll find out on the next chapter. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Author's Note:**

> I'm busy with school but I do my best to make the chapters longer! See you on the next update!


End file.
